Denial
by o0Black-Sand0o
Summary: Sequel to Distraction. It's becoming harder for Soi Fon to hate Urahara and truthfully, she's starting to realise that she may simply have been denying something else.


_**This is a sequel to Distraction that some readers requested and my friend kinda talked me into. Hope you all like it, it's a little different from my usual writing style, meaning that it's not K in the relationship rating, but it should still be good. R and R please.**_

Her right hand was pressed against the wall, preventing her from using her zanpakuto if she wished to release it whilst her left hand was left free. Said hand went to her opponent's shoulder so she could more easily hold herself up, ignoring the way the wall rubbed against her bare back. A gasp rang out when she felt a hand slip into the slit of her uniform at her thigh, allowing the hand to sit on her hip without any fabric in the way.

She tried not to show any reaction to the feel of the calluses on her opponent's hand as it rubbed against her skin. The moment she gave a reaction, she would have lost their little battle. After all, she was meant to be disgusted by his very presence so anything he did to her should only heighten that disgust.

The smirk he wore told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her as he moved in closer, brushing his lips against hers, watching as she tried to fight the urge to move into the touch. He ghosted passed her cheek and moved to her neck.

She kicked her foot out, as though to kick him away, but it was weak, her attention focused on the kisses he laid upon her neck. Inhaling sharply when her opponent found a particularly sensitive spot, she smelt a mixture of chemicals she could never put a name to as well as the smell of chocolate which she knew lingered throughout his home and lastly a mild musty smell.

He chuckled when she squirmed into his touch. He moved back, looking at her with a mischievous gleam in his eyes before he moved the hand he had slipped into her uniform. He grabbed her behind, holding her up more firmly and allowing her to wrap her legs around his slim waist.

Her attempt to free her right hand was useless, since he simply used his strength to slam her hand back against the wall before chuckling. "Why do you keep fighting me?" When she growled at him, he simply smirked, brushing his lips against hers like before. "Now, now, _Captain_!"

"Captain! Captain Soi Fon."

The new voice was nothing like her opponent's. His had been deep but soft with an intelligent but teasing air to it, whilst this new one that called her name was booming and seemed to grate on the nerves.

Opening her eyes, she spied the large face hovering above her and quickly reacted, punching it square in the nose. With a yelp, the figure fell backwards, allowing the small captain a chance to realise she was in her bedroom, her lower half tangled in her blankets.

"Captain, what was that for?" Ōmaeda whined, holding his bleeding nose. "I was just trying to wake you up before you were late to your captain's meeting."

"I don't like waking up to see your face," Soi Fon said coldly, pulling at the blankets to try and free herself. "And you better not get any blood in my room."

"Yes, Captain," Ōmaeda muttered, looking at the ground. He shot a look at his captain before clearing his throat. "What were you dreaming about?"

Soi Fon's eyes widened before she quickly schooled her features into their usual hard appearance, glaring at her lieutenant. "None of your business. Now get out!" Once the large man had left she went back to trying to escape her blankets. She was partly thankful for her lieutenant's interruption since the sudden wake up blurred her memory of the dream. She didn't need to know the details to know what it was about. She had had many dreams of a similar nature since battling the serpent creatures produced by the hollow that possessed the Kuchiki girl. No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to shake the thoughts that had been invading her mind which she found disturbing.

Finally she was free of her cacoon, allowing her to quickly get ready for the captain's meeting. She arrived just in time, even though it wasn't an important meeting, simply captain's reporting the on goings in their squads. For two hours she listened to discussions about budgets; trainings; the argument between Captain Unahana and Captain Kurotsuchi when Kurotsuchi said he wanted to test a 'healing' drug on people; and other useless things like that. It was towards the end of the meeting that something she actually deemed important was brought up.

"As you know," Head Captain Yamamoto started, "Kisuke Urahara, Tessai Tsukabishi and Yoruichi Shihion have been excused for the crimes they were accused of. Because of this, they are allowed to be informed of any changes in the Soul Society as well as Shinigami that may be staying in Karakura Town. I need someone to be sent to the World of the Living to inform them that Academy students will be undertaking training within the town and request that they come to the students' aid if needed."

"I will inform Lady Yoruichi," Captain Soi Fon volunteered. She hid her glee when she received a nod from her superior. Once she was out of the meeting she headed straight to her squad to make sure everything was set for her squad to go without her for a period of time. After giving her subordinates their orders, she went to the Senkaimon, allowing her to travel to Karakura Town.

It had been arranged after the Winter War that unless the shinigami had a particular reason to arrive elsewhere in the town, the Senkaimon was to open under Urahara's Shop for convenience. She had tried to convince Captain Ukitake, who was opening the gate for her, to release her somewhere else but he argued calmly that Yoruichi was probably at Urahara's Shop.

Stepping out, she tried not to wrinkle her nose at the dust that was flying around. Instead, she looked towards where she heard crashing noises and felt two high spiritual pressures. She easily spotted two blonde's training. The shorter one made her raise an eyebrow in annoyance but the taller of the two made her blush with embarrassment whilst also scoffing in disgust.

The petite captain debated what to do for a moment as she watched the two fight. It didn't take her to long to decide that watching them was the most enjoyable option since she couldn't sense Yoruichi's spiritual pressure in the vicinity. It was hard to tell who was the superior fighter between Urahara and Hiyori, especially since the Visard had her hollow mask on. Her entertainment came from the fact that it appeared as though Hiyori was the better fighter, what with the fact that she was kicking Urahara into large rock formations.

She bit her lip in the hope of keeping an evil chuckle from escaping as Hiyori came crashing down on her ex-captain, a hissing growl erupting from her mouth as she put as much force into the attack as she could. Urahara went sliding before his strength gave out and he flipped crashing into the ground three times before he stabilised.

"Scream, Benihime," he commanded, aiming for the smaller blonde.

His zanpakuto screeched as crimson light shot out, towards Hiyori. The Visard, realising she couldn't block the attack, dodged, but Urahara anticipated such a thing and fired again, making her repeatedly dodge as he kept her on the defence.

They were so absorbed in their battle that Urahara did not notice his next shot was to hit Soi Fon if Hoyiro dodged. Luckily, the captain of the stealth force was paying attention and easily moved out of the destructive path. Once safe, she turned a glare onto the hat wearing shinigami.

"Oh, hello, Captain Soi Fon," Urahara said cheerfully with a goofy smile.

The petite woman felt her chest constrict before she scoffed, crossing her arms. "Do you know where Lady Yoruichi is?"

He sealed his zanpakuto as Hiyori lifted her mask, her yellow eyes still pooled in black. The grin he had worn turned into a thoughtful look before he scratched the back of his head. "She said something about going across town."

"Very well," Captain Soi Fon said, turning to walk out from the underground training room. She felt a hand wrap around her wrist. She shuttered and pulled her hand back sharply, trying to stop the panic and surprise from appearing on her face. The calluses! They felt exactly like in her dreams and having them touch her in her waken state was causing her to remember what they caused her to feel in her dreams. A blush slowly spread across her face, which she hoped could be mistaken for anger.

"Sorry," Urahara spoke calmly, holding his hand up to show he wasn't going to grab her again. "But there's no reason for you to go find her. She'll be back in half an hour at the most."

The woman thought about it before sighing. "Fine. I will wait up stairs whilst you train here." Her tone made it clear that she was going to hurt him if he went against what she said. She turned on her heels and marched out of the room, up to the higher level.

There wasn't much for her to do, which resulted in her sitting in the living room, staring at the wall. She tried to feel the anger boil inside her like it usually did whenever she was within Urahara's house, but it felt so forced. Ever since that idiotic thought had slipped into her mind during the battle she had been plagued with others, slowly increasing until they manifested images in her dreams.

At first she had tried to deny them but they grew with frequency and substance to the point that she would wake in a cold sweat, the images taunting her by running through her mind for the rest of the day, bringing a flush to her face. She had came to expect them when she went to sleep at night, making her spend longer hours in the office, trying to avoid the time when she would have to retreat to her bed.

Time seemed to tick by slowly as she stared at the blank, white wall. She shook her head when the edges of her vision started to blur but it seemed to make matters worse. She jumped with a start when she felt her body lapsing into sleep. Slowly, Soi Fon realised that she was in need of a bathroom, forcing her to her feet.

Unfortunately, the layout of the house was foreign to her, making her open every door in hope that it held the facilities she was looking for. After opening six doors, four of which led to unusual experiments, she opened one that caught her intrigue.

The room was dark and had a lingering scent that she tried her hardest not to place. On one wall, easily visible from the bed, and the door, were sketches. Moving closer out of curiosity, she saw that many of them were of machines or devises but two or three were not. There was one of Urahara whilst he was working and another of Soi Fon when she was deep in thought. The captain had to wonder how it was that someone had been able to draw her with such detail without her noticing. It was a beautiful piece of art and it was obvious that all the artworks were done by the same person.

"Do you like them?"

She jumped, having let her guard down. Turning, she couldn't help but let out a yelp at the sight that greeted her. Words seemed to have abandoned her as she tried to stop her face from turning red. Her mind was screaming at her eyes to look away but they seemed to have declared mutiny on her. "What?" she finally managed to say, closing her eyes since her eyelids were still obeying her.

"The drawings. Yoruichi does them, since I have no real skill in drawing and I wanted sketches of my ideas for inventions. She gave me the one of myself as a present," Urahara explained casually, either not noticing Soi Fon's lack of control or choosing to ignore it for his own safety. It didn't take a genius scientist to realise that if he mentioned her silence and staring, especially that it came from the fact that he was half naked, in a towel and still dripping wet from his shower.

Soi Fon took a deep breath before opening her eyes, planning to look him in the face only to notice a drop of water that had stopped clinging to his collarbone and ran down his chest to the towel at his waist. _Stupid brain,_ she scolded. "And the one of me?" she asked in a strained voice.

"It's a beautiful piece of art," he admitted, reaching forward to tap the wall behind Soi Fon, just under the picture of her.

This act had brought him dangerously close to her. As means of escape, she ducked under his arm, moving to the other side of the room. "Weren't you meant to be down stairs?"

"Well, Hiyori had to go, so I came back up to take a shower."

"I would have noticed," Soi Fon snapped, glaring at him accusingly.

Urahara scratched the back of his head. "I think you had fallen asleep. I didn't want to wake you. I figured I would wake you up when Yoruichi got here."

Soi Fon tried not to blush, realising she had fallen to sleep, though she didn't know for how long. "Shouldn't she be here already? You said thirty minutes."

"Actually," Urahara started, a large grin, "It's only been twenty minutes. I have ten more minutes before you can start beating me."

Choosing not to spend any more time in the same room with the ex-captain, Soi Fon turned towards the door. "Fine, you have ten minutes." She found the bathroom before walking back into the living room, sitting in the same position as last time.

Fortunately for the blond man, Yoruichi returned seven and a half minutes after Soi Fon had wonder into Urahara's bedroom. The dark woman had seemed rather thrilled to see her little apprentice and went to sit with her once she saw her.

"What are you doing here, Little Bee?" Yoruichi asked, a large grin on her face.

"Head Captain Yamamoto wished for me to inform you that Shinigami academy students will be coming to Karakura town as a training exercise. He requests that you and," Soi Fon rolled her eyes, "Urahara, keep an eye on them and ensure that they are safe." She handed over a report with the information they needed.

"Seems easy enough," Urahara stated, putting a cup of tea in front of each woman before sitting down next to Soi Fon.

The petite captain cleared her throat before trying to discretely move away from him. She could tell from the questioning look Yoruichi gave her that she had noticed the young woman's movements. Choosing to ignore the stare, she turned back to the matter at hand. "You can't take this lightly."

"I wasn't planning to," Urahara assured, taking a sip of his own tea. "Don't let your tea go cold." He exchanged his tea cup for a fan that he opened in front of his face. "How much, exactly, can these students handle?"

"You're not allowed to experiment on them," Soi Fon told him plainly, knowing what he wanted.

"Oh, I wasn't planning to," he assured with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, you were," Yoruichi chuckled, happily drinking her beverage.

"Shh, Yoruichi," Urahara stage whispered from behind his fan, "There's no need to anger the head of the punishment force."

"To late," Soi Fon assured, her annoyance thinly veiled. "Lady Yoruichi, how could you possibly stay in a disgusting place like this?"

"It's not so bad, especially when you have Kisuke for company." Yoruichi winked at her old apprentice.

The captain was taken aback. She didn't know if Yoruichi was insinuating that she enjoyed Urahara's 'company', or if Soi Fon would. Either option wasn't very appealing to the small woman. "I think not," she replied calmly, avoiding Urahara's and Yoruichi's eye as the image of the former in a towel popped into her head. "I should return to my squad and ensure that my subordinates have undertaken the tasks I gave them. I expect to hear that the academy students didn't run into any _unnecessary_ problems." She stood, facing Yoruichi and bowed. "Thank you for your time and goodbye, Lady Yoruichi." She then turned and walked towards the hatch that would take her to the underground training area and the Senkaimon.

As she descended the ladder, she distinctly heard the two talking.

"I get the impression I've wronged her in some way," Urahara stated thoughtfully, clearly unaware to the fact that she could hear him. "She's avoiding my eye, doesn't like being in the same room as me, and didn't even touch her tea. I know she doesn't particularly like me but usually she's not so cold. Do you know what I've done?"

"Oh, Kisuke, you're just your usual lovable self," Yoruichi assured in a voice that clearly indicated that she knew something he didn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had spent yet another night bent over paperwork, trying to avoid sleep and thoughts of _him._ Unfortunately, her choice of paperwork was not helping her in the second area since it was the report from the academy students' excursion to the World of the Living that had taken place a week before. It seemed as though nothing had gone wrong, except for a few minor injuries that were unavoidable, meaning Urahara didn't perform any experiments.

At the rate she was going, she would have the paperwork for the next month finished within two days, which did not appeal to her, for then she would have nothing to distract her. The irony that this all began by her being distributed was not lost on her but that did not make things easier. She couldn't seem to find a way to get rid of the thoughts and images, no matter how hard she tried. Her thoughts had originally been simple and shallow, only about the blond's appearance but slowly she had started enjoying elements of his personality as well, such as his inquisitive nature, his easy attitude and even his battle behavior.

Eventually, her eyes became heavy and her mind couldn't form a full sentence, making her get up and leave the office to seek rest. She made it to her room in the barracks, dropping her haori on the ground and falling into bed fully dressed. As much as she was dreading it, she didn't fight the sleep when it over took her body. One of her last thoughts was that she hoped her dream wasn't along the same lines as the rest of her dreams whilst her very last thought was that at least she got to see him again. She was too tired to be disgusted with that thought though.

Soi Fon found herself in her office, working on paperwork like any ordinary day. The lighting was low but she thought nothing of it. Her brush worked across the page diligently before they were taken by a person standing behind her, an ink line smearing the paper in her surprise.

She turned sharply, jumping to her feet. A gasp was pulled into her throat when she beheld Urahara standing before her, grinning in his usual manner as he wore the Squad Twelve Captain's haori. Clasped in his hand was her small bundle of unfinished paperwork.

"Give it back," Soi Fon demanded, crossing her arms and glaring at the man. She eyed the papers for a moment before lunging for them. Her fingers brushed the edges before they were pulled out of her grasp.

Urahara held them high above her head, far out of her reach. "Uh, uh, uh," he teased, "I want something in return." He leant forward, putting a hand on the desk behind Soi Fon, the papers still held to high for the short woman. "What are you going to give me for them?"

The dark haired girl stepped back, hitting the edge of her desk. She evaluated her situation, realizing that she could slip out from in front of Urahara easily, since he blocked her only on one side. Looking up at the blond, she smirks, planning to jump, grab the papers and shunpo to the other side of the room to taunt. She didn't enact her plan though, for something came over her. The way he smiled at her, his scent covering her, made her have that same thought, the thought that started it all.

_He's extremely handsome!_

"I…" she started, having no idea what she was going to say after that. She body seemed to move on its own will. Her hand came up to the back of Urahara's head, pulling him down so she could kiss him forcefully. The blonde's noise of surprise was lost in her mouth as her hands moved to ball the collar of Urahara's uniform in her fists.

The man's surprise was short lived, allowing him to quickly take charge of the situation. He wrapped the arm not on the desk around Soi Fon's tiny waist, the papers tumbling from his fingers as he easily lifted her onto the desk. Ignoring the inkbottle he upset, he pulled her close, not breaking the contact.

Soi Fon couldn't help but notice the way his fingers pressed into her hip yet barely registered the ink that was seeping into her haori. She moved her hands, slipping them under Urahara's collar, feeling the heat of his skin through the palms of her hands. A feeling erupted within her as Urahara trailed kisses down to her neck, making her eyes dilate. She hooked her feet around his legs, pressing her body against his.

Her sudden enthusiasm forced a moan from the blond before he moved his hand from around her waist, pushing her haori off her shoulders before grasping her upper thigh instead as he used his body to push her back, lying her on the desk and in the pool of ink. The cool liquid met her hot skin, giving her system a shock and sending a shiver through her body. To compensate for the cold she felt, Soi Fon pushed open Urahara's shirt, pulling it off his shoulders with enough strength that she heard the tare in the fabric.

"Eager, are we?" Urahara chuckled into her ear.

"Stop talking," she ordered, sitting up quickly and pushing the male back, into her chair. The petite captain loomed over him, her knees either side of his thighs. Ignoring the way the ink trickled down her back, she pulled Urahara's head back, gaining access to his mouth. "And you owe me a new bottle of ink."

Soi Fon kissed him, running her fingers down his chest before bringing them back up to grasp his shoulders. The scientist's arms went around her body, his hands resting on her back, becoming stained black. She bit down on his bottom lip, secretly enjoying having control over this seemingly uncontrollable man. A smile spread across her face at the feel of his gasp before he pulled away, making the black-haired woman open her eyes in confusion.

Her dark gray eyes met his light ones as he gave her a small smile. "Soi Fon… I… um…" his small smile turned into a humorous one, "I think your haori is ruined."

With a small laugh, she nodded. "Some with yours." She bit her lip as she smiled in amusement.

"Hey, you're actually smiling around me," Urahara noted, his arms tightening their hold on her. "Finally, I hit the right buttons."

Her reply was muffled with the sudden appearance of his lips on hers, confusing her for a moment. She felt a tug in the back of her mind before she opened her eyes, finding herself back in her room, lying on her bed. The darkness out her window showed that it was still night. Soi Fon knew that she wasn't going to get to sleep properly again so decided to change out of her uniform before returning to bed. The rest of the night was only filled with simple dozing.

Her head pounded the next day as she tried to go about her usual business. Yachiru's high pitched voice annoyed her more then usual during the Shinigami Woman's Association meetings, since the desival stung Soi Fon's head every time the pink haired girl opened her mouth. After the meeting, in which they had to run from Senbunzakura, she had to deliver paperwork to some of the other squads. She could have gave the duty to a subordinate but she was getting tired of them all asking her if she was feeling well. Instead of having to fill out the report explaining why so many of her subordinates had to go to the relief station, she decided to get out of the division for a while.

Unfortunately, with her body desiring sleep, she found herself walking with her eyes closed which preventing the petite captain from seeing the wall in which she ran into. White wash of pain spread from her nose, mingling with the constant throb of her head making her stomach do a violent swirl as hot, syrupy liquid trickled out of her nose. Soi Fon tried not to let the pain rejester on her face as she stepped away from the wall, pinching her nose and trying to work out exactly where she was.

"Captain Soi Fon, are you alright?"

She looked to her left in surprise, her hold on her nose accidentily tightening and prying a yelp from her lips. Staring at her with concern was her fellow captain, Jushiro Ukitake. Hiding her embarressment, she glowered at her fellow captain the best she could in her weakened state. "I'm fine," she snapped.

The white haired captain gave a small smile, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and handing it to Soi Fon. After waiting for her to take it and put it to her nose, he started guiding her towards his office. "I actually have been meaning to speak with you." He sat her on his lounge, which was easy in her sleepy state. "You seem to be unwell as of late," he started, sitting across from her. "You seem to be tired a lot lately and I was informed by some of my subordinates who are in the Shinigami Woman's Association that you were falling asleep in the meetings and it seemed as though you were in pain. Is there anything the matter?"

"N...no, I'm fine," Soi Fon promised, trying to fight a yawn. When she noticed the other captain's gaze, she looked down in shame, realizing Ukitake knew she was lying. She had always respected the older captain mainly because her mentor trusted him so much. "I haven't been sleeping well," admitted the dark haired girl in a soft voice. "I've been having nightmares."

Captain Ukitake thought for a moment before speaking. "Do these nightmares have a common element?"

"The most annoying person in existance," offered Soi Fon with a shrug.

A chuckle eminated from the sickly man. "Excuse my saying so, but you have a rather extensive list of people who annoy you, which includes your own lieutenant."

This caused the petite woman to smirk. "Well, this guy is the reason I have a list." She tried to fight her desire to put her head back against the lounge and fall asleep. Instead, she put her elbow on the armchair and her chin in her hand. Her eyes blinked closed slowly and labored to open. "I really wish these nightmares would stop."

"I may be able to help you," mused Ukitake, looking at her thoughtfully. "I am a rather good listener and have helped many people through their problems over the years. Perhaps if you talked about these nightmares you will be able to work out what it actually is that scares you so much."

"The nightmares don't scare me," Soi Fon snapped, "They're just annoying and weird and they won't go away."

"And all of them contain this man who annoys you," added Ukitake in helpful manner. "Is he doing whatever it is that infuriates you, or is he fighting you?"

Soi Fon hesitated to answer, trying to stop the blush from the memories of the dreams. "No… he's not doing… anything that usually annoys me and no… I wouldn't say we've been fighting in my nightmares." At Ukitake's probing gaze, she sighed heavily. "It's like I have no control over myself, I don't even act like myself."

"And that's why you are having trouble sleeping?" questioned the white haired man. "Because you have no control over yourself?"

"Uh," she sounded before changing her mind. "Never mind, I should go." She went to stand up, only for her head to spin and for her to fall back into her seat. "Stupid, weak body!"

"Captain Soi Fon, I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise you that," Captain Ukitake swore, trying to sooth the woman's nerves. "I'm guessing that you don't hate this man's behavior in your dreams. He's being kind, or sweet, or caring."

Soi Fon realized that he was right, especially in the last dream, she decided not to answer and instead stare at her hands that were balled in her lap, Ukitake's handkerchief poking out, dotted with blood.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," decided the white haired man. "Maybe you should stop viewing these dreams as a nightmare. Perhaps there are areas of this man's personality, or something he does that you like or admire."

Thinking for a moment, Soi Fon realized that there were something's that she admired about Urahara, such as his fighting style and his intelligence, whilst she did like his looks and careless smile, not that she would mention those two to her fellow captain. "He's a strong fighter."

"Maybe you should stop thinking of him as the man that annoys you and instead think of him as the fighter. You might be able to sleep better then." He let Soi Fon mull over the idea before continuing, "Now, I suggest you take the day off before Captain Unahana finds out you are not feeling well."

With the subdual threat, Soi Fon nodded and stood. "Here's the paper work I was coming to give you, and thank you for speaking with me."

"Thank you and you're welcome," Captain Ukitake replied, taking the pages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sleep was no longer eluding her now that she had done as Captain Ukitake suggested. She was able to sleep through the night, though part of her was disturbed by that fact. Letting her mind do whatever she wanted confused her. She had thought that her subconscious and imagination was acting out thoughts produced by Urahara's looks but she was wrong. Not all the dreams she was having had to do with 'practices of the flesh' as her mother would put it. Sometimes she found herself training with him, where she discovered that it was not easy holding her own; another one found her waking up in her bedroom, dressed in her favorite winter pajamas.

_The room had a surreal light to it, half the room glowing angelic white whilst the other half was painted an ash grey, as though her mind knew she was in a dream but was quite content to stay. Lying beside her, sleeping peacefully, was Kisuke Urahara, a small smile on his face, the lock of hair usually in the middle of his forehead fell over one of his closed eyelids. She found it fascinating, making her study his face as the arm around her waist pulled her closer, the blankets pooling between them as she moved. She found herself feeling the rush of air coming from Urahara's nose hitting her chin repeatedly as she held her own breath, fearing he would smell her morning breath. Acting without thinking, she moved forward slightly, kissing the blond on the lips._

_He jumped awake, almost head butting Soi Fon if she had not reacted quickly enough. Urahara looked around with bewilderment before noticing the guilty expression on the girl's face._

"_Sorry," she muttered._

"_Don't be," he replied in a deep voice, his eyes becoming half closed with sleep. He pulled her close again, this time kicking the blankets out from between them so that Soi Fon could feel the warmth of his skin. He kissed her lips before settling his head back down on the pillow. "I don't want to get up. Let's just stay here. No images to protect, no subordinates that you fear will look down upon you if you finally admit that you would like someone to look after you."_

_Anyone else would have thought that he was muttering in his sleep, seeing as his breath was even, his eyes closed, and his face slack, but she knew he was speaking the truth, something he had probably realized about her since seeing her again after a hundred years._

"_Sounds good," she agreed, "Just us, all day."_

_The small smile reappeared on Urahara's face as his hand tightened its hold on her, securing her in place. "Sounds good."_

The latest dream she had had was a little different, not so much in _who_ it contained, but the location and how the person behaved were greatly different.

_She was standing in the middle of the barrier Hoshi had trapped Urahara in for a month. The golden cage encompassed her, held her. She could see her fellow captains, her subordinates, even Lady Yoruichi, walking around outside the walls of the barrier. None of them looked at her as she surveyed her surroundings._

_Finally she found one person who was looking at her. Their nose was brushing the barrier they stood so close, their arm rested against the golden wall, above their head. Their gaze never left her, as though they found great amusement in her predicament. He was watching her from under the brim of his hat, surveying her like prey._

_Her gaze hardened as she stalked forward, as far as her cage allowed. She didn't have to look up as high as she normally did when she came within a foot of the man, since he was bent over slightly. As a large smile slowly spread across his face, a scold marred hers._

_After staring each other down for a minute, Soi Fon huffed and crossed her arms. "What do you want, Urahara?"_

_He shrugged casually, not moving from his position. If the barrier had been made of glass, his breath would have left a foggy mark he was that close. "Enjoying the view. You, stuck in a cage for my amusement."_

"_Why are you doing this?" snapped the petite woman, stepping closer to the barrier, her nose tingling from the reiatsu. If there wasn't a wall separating them she would punch his smug face. She felt as though she was on display, for people to judge and scrutinize, except that no one seemed to care. No one was bothering to pay her any attention except for Urahara. _

"_Why shouldn't I do this?" Urahara countered. "It's fun, watching you be trapped. Admit it, if situations were reversed, you would love this, having me at your mercy, in your control. I always was something you could never predict nor control."_

_In the back of Soi Fon's mind, she knew he was right. When she had done the same thing to him, she had enjoyed it, but mainly because she could convince herself that Hoshi did as she requested because he disliked Urahara as much as she did. At the time it had been the only thing to keep her thoughts about him as hateful as possible but a part of her had enjoyed having control over him. Of course, he had ruined that by grinning at her as though he was perfectly happy to be trapped._

"_Face it, Soi-chan, we're obsessed with each other. I like annoying you until your face gets that red tinge to it and you would love to beat me up but we both know your hatred of me comes from your inability to accept your feelings. Me however, I just like pushing your buttons." With a grin, he pushed himself off of the barrier with his arm and turned, walking off and leaving Soi Fon to be alone._

After the last one, she would prefer to go back to the more sexual dreams, seeing as they were shallow and didn't question whether or not she had deeper feelings for the blond man. These thoughts had made it so she blushed when around Urahara, something she tried to hide and so far, she seemed to have succeeded.

The constant wondering if the hints in her dreams had merit were infuriating her and actually making her wish her dreams were her reality. It was a terrifying thought, but she realized that Dream Urahara had been right, she didn't like always putting up a front for those around her; she did want to be herself, be vulnerable around someone, even if it was only in the privacy of her home, _their_ home. She found it comforting.

All these thoughts and epiphanies were able to swirl through her mind freely since she had no paperwork she was required to finish. She had cleared her desk for the next month, unless some emergency missions appeared. This empty schedule allowed her to accept an invite from Yoruichi to have lunch together, after Soi Fon made sure that Urahara was not going to be there with them.

The place that Yoruichi had in mind was understated, but fit for two noble women, which seemed proper to Soi Fon. She enjoyed the food, and the company, but her mentor was observant. The dark haired captain had noticed the looks the older woman had been giving her over their meal but she had chosen to ignore them, figuring that Yoruichi would eventually tell her if she wanted Soi Fon to know.

Finally, Soi Fon sighed, pushing her food around on her plate. "Lady Yoruichi, do you mind if I ask you a somewhat personal question?"

"Alright," agreed the noble woman. "If I don't like it, I just won't answer."

"When you were a captain, did you," Soi Fon paused, wondering how to word it, "lonely?"

Yoruichi contemplated her answer, sipping her drink as she did. "Yes. That's part of the reason I left. Everyone around me seemed to only see me by my position, and people were always trying to dictate my future. It was lonely, feeling like I was just an object at times. Admittedly, that was why I was kind of happy to see that you were torn by me leaving. It may sound mean, but it showed that you respected _me_, not just because of my house."

"Of course," assured Soi Fon. "And, I understand now. Everyone sees me as a cold killer and their superior, and I play the part, whereas, five minutes with you and everyone could see you were friendly, far from cold, and would only kill if you had to."

"It helped having Kisuke."

Soi Fon tried to ignore the swirl of pain she felt as she gave her mentor a slight confused smile. "I always did wonder what relationship you two had. Just, with insinuating that I liked him, made it seem as though you two were just friends, but encouraging him to become captain made it seem as though you wanted him out of your squad so that you could date him."

"We're just friends," Lady Yoruichi chuckled. "I've always thought he was better suited for this other woman but until recently, he was having no luck with her."

Curiosity clawed at Soi Fon's insides, begging to find out who this woman was. The small woman refrained from asking, knowing Yoruichi would find it suspicious. "I wish I had that, sometimes. I know I have you as a close friend, but…"

"It's not the same. I understand completely," promised the dark woman, smiling over the rim of her drink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her thoughts slowly aligned within her mind as she opened her eyes, feeling as though she was surfacing from beneath a heavy pool of water. Her eyes, being well trained, quickly adjusted to the darkness, noting that she was on her bed, in her room, but this time, Urahara wasn't lying beside her asleep and instead was standing beside her bed, looking down at her.

She met his gaze and rose to her knees as the blond opened his mouth. A soft smile appeared on her lips as she reached forward, taking both of his hands in her own. "Hey," Soi Fon whispered.

Slowly, joy spread across Urahara's face, as well as a grin. "Hey," he replied in the same low, breathless voice, stepping closer to the bed.

Soi Fon looked up through her lashes at the man before letting go of one of his hands, sliding her hand up his chest to his collar. Grasping the fabric, she pulled him down to her level, crushing her lips against his. He gave a noise of surprise that became slightly louder when both of Soi Fon's hands disappeared into his shirt, moving to push it off his shoulders. Her hands ran up and down his chest, taking note of every hard muscle under soft skin.

One of Urahara's hands went to the captain's hip as the other cupped her neck, his callus scraping against her skin gently. A gasp was drawn from his lips when Soi Fon started kissing a path down his neck.

The dark haired woman grazed her teeth against his skin before looking back up into his face, noticing the look in his eyes that she had so often seen in her dreams. She planted short, passionate kisses on Urahara's lips as she buried her hands in his hair. "Kisuke, I…" She was cut off a kiss.

Urahara wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest. "I hope this isn't a dream," he whispered, his lips brushing Soi Fon's as he spoke.

"What?" she asked in confusion, noticing the blush that rose up the man's neck, onto his cheeks. She thought for a moment before realizing why her mind had cleared when she opened her eyes. With a gasp of shock, she let go of Urahara, pushing him away with enough force to make him stumble and hit the wall. "What are you doing here?"

"Yoruichi said you wanted to see me, that it was an emergency," he rushed to explain, moving off the wall. "Soi Fon, you… you…"

"Get out!" she snapped, not wanting to know what he was going to say. "Get out now, before I kill you!"

Realizing that she was not bluffing, Urahara quickly made his escape, leaving Soi Fon to fall back into her bed with embarrassment. It took her an hour to gain the courage to get ready and head into the office, hoping she could at least beat her lieutenant to a pulp. She tried not to think about how much information her enemy now had on her nor dwell on the fact that for a short time, he kissed her back.

Soi Fon was so deeply within her pit of despair that she didn't hear her office door slide open, nor did she hear someone walk up to her desk until she noticed a glimmer of dark green at the top of her vision. Raising her eyes from her desk, she saw the person she was hoping to never see again. She quickly jumped up from her seat, taking on a defensive stance.

"Why did you kiss me?" Urahara asked seriously, his shoulders back, showing he was ready for a fight.

"I was asleep," countered the captain, barely blinking at her lie. "I didn't realize it was you."

"You said my name." The blond stepped closer, trying to pin the leader of the stealth force against the wall without her realizing.

She, of course, did, and started to circle around him, out of the corner. "I was starting to realize who you were."

"That's not true," snapped Urahara angrily.

Soi Fon narrowed her eyes in a threatening manner. "How can you be so certain?"

A look of defeat flickered across Urahara's face as his shoulders sagged. "Because I'm desperate for it to be true." A bitter and sad smile appeared. "I hoped for a minute that you actually cared about me and I'm not leaving until you tell me that I was either right, or that you would never give me a chance like that. You can have me thrown out, but you know I'll just come back. Soi Fon, I've liked you for years. Your attention to detail, your strength," he grinned in amusement, "the fact that you don't take my crap. Why do you think I have a drawing of you in my room? Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that. Hell, Yoruichi has been trying to get us together for years, since before we left." Anger was seeping into Urahara's voice as Soi Fon remained silent. "Say something!"

"Like what?!" Soi Fon demanded to know in a harsh tone. "You just expect me to start admitting my feelings? I've hated you for years. You're messy, unorganized, you can't take anything seriously and you view people as your play toys. So what if I find you handsome; or think you're a great fighter; or intelligent? I've hated you for years. You make my blood boil whenever I'm near you. You infuriate me!" She had walked closer to Urahara throughout her rant so that she was now standing before him, her cheeks flushed and her breathing heavy. She noticed the smug grin he wore, the one always present when he knew he had control of someone. "Stop grinning!" she snapped.

"No," he retorted before putting his hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer and kissing her hard.

Her body responded instantly, kissing him back. He wrapped his arm around her waist, easily lifting her up and allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist like she had done in multiple dreams. She fought the desire to run her hands down his chest again and instead balled her hands into fists, scraping her nails against his skin as she did so, eliciting a moan.

"You don't hate me," Urahara panted, "You're infatuated with me."

"Maybe I am," admitted Soi Fon, grabbing his blond locks and pulling his face down towards hers again. "By the way, no one saw you leaving my room this morning half naked, did they?"

"Nah," assured the blond between kisses, his hold on her tightening, "Just your lieutenant, a handful of seated officers, Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake."

"You're going to pay for that."

"I hope so."


End file.
